I will defend private country clubs, worked at a few of them.
Most of the members are not pricks, rather they always seemed extra nice. Treat them well and it was always returned.
Tips at some clubs are grouped together and come back to employees in the form of Xmas bonus or just plain tip splitting.
Some clubs the tips go right in your pocket, obviously if they tip on their bill it goes though the club payroll office.
Christmas time was always lucrative. Lots of cash getting passed around.
And one big benefit of working at one is the many of the members are business owners who actually hire employees. Imagine that, wealth creating jobs. One of the things club managers always have to deal with is their best employees being stolen by members. Do a great job and you will get noticed. Anyway thats how I got my present job. And I know many other people who have traveled the same path to a job I did.
Ebow, sounds like you will come out of this okay.